Sunday, July 19, 2009

Ok, I can't technically take credit for a "scoop" on this, because I'm not one of those fancy-pants professional journalists with their credentials and sources and legitimacy, but it looks like I at least made a really good guess on the possibility of Sergei Zubov coming to Boston. Zubov's agent reports, via SI's Allan Muir, that the Bruins have indeed shown interest in him.

The common critique of this possibility is that the B's could never fit Zubov under the cap, to which I rebut -- let's wait and see what happens with Phil Kessel. If they decide to move Kessel, they might include a cap-heavy forward in the deal. Hmmm, Kobasew ($2.3m) seems about right, and with Mark Recchi at RW this season...

Chiarelli's in a very uncomfortable position between "win now" and "build for the long haul". If he stays the course with a 3- or 5-year plan, we could end up missing a prime opportunity with guys like Z and Timmy. If he cashes out for a Cup run, we could be Buffalo in a few years. The Kessel situation should be a watershed to tell us which way Chia's breaking.